A 60 billion tenge glass container plant will be built in Aktobe. The investment agreement between the Ministry of Industry and Construction and the company Aktobe Steklo has already been approved by the government, and the ultimate beneficiary of the project is the husband of a former environment minister, the website infohub.kz reports.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov signed the corresponding resolution. Construction will begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the facility scheduled to be commissioned in 2029. The new plant's design capacity will be 256 million glass containers per year.
The Aktobe region currently has no domestic glass production. Up to 80% of the finished containers are planned for sale on Kazakhstan's domestic market, with the remainder to be exported to Central Asian countries.
The new production facility will be equipped with automated process control and quality control systems. Domestic natural mineral raw materials will be used in production.
The project envisages large-scale involvement of secondary resources. Over the financing period, investors plan to process more than 245,000 tonnes of glass waste. The launch of the plant will create about 300 permanent jobs and provide an additional boost to related industries involved in collecting and sorting cullet.
According to Adata, the ultimate controlling figure of Aktobe Steklo LLP is 79-year-old Serik Krymov. He is the husband of Aitkul Samakova, who served as Kazakhstan's Minister of Environmental Protection from 2002 to 2006. Aktobe Steklo itself is controlled by the private company AKTOBE GLASS HOLDING LTD, which belongs to Maskar LLP.
According to Shishkin like, through Maskar LLP Serik Krymov participates in several major projects. In Zhaiyk Invest Development LLP he owns 31.5%, with the remaining 68.5% held by Mercury Properties. The company owns a business center in Atyrau worth about 4 billion tenge. In 2025, the group received almost 2.8 billion tenge in income from rent and related services and paid shareholders 2.3 billion tenge in dividends.
Another asset is Toral Caspian LLP, which owns the Holiday Inn Aktau-Seaside hotel, presumably along with a water park. The company controls land plots totaling at least 14 hectares. Since 2015, it has paid more than 1.5 billion tenge to the budget. Among the beneficiaries, besides the Krymovs, is Marzhan Zhanabergen.
In the transport business, Krymov is represented through Caspian Shipping Company, OMS Agency and OMS Shipping. The latter two companies are engaged in freight forwarding and sea cargo transportation. Since 2015, their combined taxes and other mandatory payments have amounted to almost 2 billion tenge. In addition, Krymov is the sole founder of Mandarinovy Gus LLP, presumably linked to a restaurant business of the same name. Since 2015, the company has paid 244 million tenge to the budget, but after 2020 payments declined noticeably. Until 2026, Krymov also owned Oranzhevy Gus LLP, which may be linked to cafes in shopping malls in Almaty and Aktau.